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Richard and Karen Carpenter
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The sentimental holiday favorite hides a surprising backstory.
Dec 6, 2025 8:31 AM EST
By Lucille Barilla
Key Points
- “Merry Christmas Darling” tells of lovers separated during the holidays, evoking bittersweet longing.
- The Carpenters popularized the song in 1970; it remains a Christmas standard.
- Elvis Presley attempted but failed to record the song in the early ’70s.
One of the Carpenters’ most iconic Christmas has has a heartbreaking twist.
“Merry Christmas Darling” tells the story of a couple who are apart during the holiday season. It expresses a bittersweet feeling of missing someone while simultaneously dreaming of being with them.
The brother/sister duo released the song in November 1970, and the record was eventually certified gold, with 500,000 units sold. The tune was also included in a 1978 compilation, Christmas Portrait.
However, neither Karen nor Richard Carpenter wrote the song. It was penned by Frank Pooler in 1944, according to the Gaston Gazette.
Pooler wrote “Merry Christmas Darling” when he was 18 for a young woman he cared about as a Christmas present. However, before he could present it to her, their romance ended, leaving him heartbroken.
Pooler went on to serve as Choral Director at California State University, Long Beach, alma mater of the Carpenter siblings. Karen and Richard needed a holiday song to sing that was fresh and new, and their professor gave them “Merry Christmas Darling.” Richard reworked the melody and created the song that eventually would become a Christmas classic.
Ironically, the young woman whom Pooler wrote the song about had no idea it was about her. However, Pooler was able to track her down years after the song became a hit, reported LaCrosse Tribune.
She lived in Palm Springs, California, with her musician husband. Pooler arranged a meeting, where they spoke about the now beloved Christmas classic.
“Did you ever know I wrote that song for you?” Pooler asked. “No,” the woman responded. “Now I have a treasure.”
Frank Pooler would eventually become the Carpenters’ orchestra director. He remained friends with Karen Carpenter until her 1983 death. He is still close with Richard Carpenter.
Elvis Presley almost recorded ‘Merry Christmas Darling’
According to the LaCrosse Tribune, “Merry Christmas Darling” was almost recorded by none other than Elvis Presley. However, his inability to read music became an issue.
In the early 1970s, Presley tried recording his own version of the song, several years after the Carpenters released it as a single. But he couldn’t get the hang of the song, despite being encircled by musicians who played him the melody over and over again.
Pooler’s story came from Richard Carpenter, as told to him by Presley. He explained that the King of Rock and Roll, “could not quite pick up on the bridge to ‘Merry Christmas, Darling,’ so he threw in the towel after three times around the circle.”
“Merry Christmas Darling” remains a holiday standard, 55 years after its initial release.
Original:
https://parade.com/news/carpenters-most-beloved-christmas-song-heartbreaking-twist-merry-christmas-darling
